5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard boiled mystery of the finest caliber, June 9, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: Perdition USA (Paperback)
Three black youths are killed on the mean streets of Los Angeles.
There is not one thread except for the city and their race to link the
three victims. Yet they all seem to have been murdered by the same
killer. Still, murders of black males in LA is like apple pie to most
of America, so no one in authority or the media pay any attention to
the killings. In fact the only person besides family members to show
any interest in the three deaths is African American private
investigator Ivan Monk, who believes the triple killings are linked,
possibly the victims of a serial killer who is targeting young black
males.
..... Ivan tracks the killings back to a small Oregon town called
PERDITION. He arrives at the town and quickly wishes the trail had led
elsewhere as Ivan is caught up with a white supremacist group and some
vicious skinheads. Before long, Ivan realizes that it is him against
the mob on their turf. If he is not extremely careful, Ivan might find
himself the next victim.
..... With his second novel starring Ivan Monk, Gary Phillips shows that
the talent he demonstrated with VIOLENT SPRING was not a flash.
PERDITION, USA is a wild ride that takes readers back and forth as it
journeys through the different scenes. This strange trip is not for
everyone, but to, at least this reviewer, fits the lead protagonist's
persona as a hard boiled detective and makes this mystery worth
reading.
.....Harriet Klausner
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